Home Made Healthy Multigrain Graham Crackers

Know what you Eat – Graham Crackers comes under the list of healthy snacks but if
you read the ingredients most of them are made with partially hydrogenated oils and
very few are made with whole grains. Typically to make graham crackers one has to use
graham flour which is made by grinding finely the endosperm of winter wheat. The bran
and germ layers are returned and mixed in, resulting in a coarse, brown flour with a
nutty and slightly sweet flavor. Today, some commercial granaries remove much of the
wheat germ to prolong the shelf life of the flour. So most of the brands available in the
store all you get is stripped out and processed graham cracker.

Graham cracker was in my must bake list for a long time and instead of just going for
whole wheat flour, i used whole wheat, brown rice, oats, sorghum and coconut flour.
Yeah my pantry has you name it will have it kind of different flours stocked, so went for
this multigrain and was planning to bake a vegan version but the coconut flour absorbed
all the moisture, so had to add some milk to roll the dough and cut out the crackers.
Yes it did taste good.

Better late than never, we are very glad to share with you that our
Almond-Oats Ginger Bread Cookie was featured in the Jan 2010 Town Square News letter.


Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Oats Flour – 1/2 Cup
Brown Rice flour – 1/4 cup
Coconut flour – 1/4 cup
Barley flour – 1/4 cup
Sorghum flour – 1/4 cup
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Canola or Sunflower oil – 1/2 cup
Maple syrup – 1/2 cup(Make it 3/4th cup if you want it sweeter)
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Ener-g Egg replacer – 1 1/2 tsp
Warm Water – 1 Tbsp
Milk – 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp

Method

1) Mix all the dry ingredients – Whole wheat flour, oats flour, brown rice flour, coconut flour
sorghum flour, barley flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder.
2) Add water to the egg replacer and beat till fluffy.
3) Now add the oil, maple syrup to the ener-g mixture and combine thoroughly,
now add all the flours to this mixture and combine to get a well moistened dough.
4) Preheat baking oven to 350 Degrees fahrenheit.
5) Because you are using coconut flour it will start absorbing the moisture, so keep 1/4th of cup
of milk handy. Take half the dough and add little bit of milk and roll out into a  1/8” thick
on a greased and floured baking sheet. Cut into desired shapes with a knife or a cookie
cutter. I just used knife and cut out square and rectangles.
6) Bake in a cookie tray lined with parchment paper for 8-10 minutes till they are golden.
7) Now flip them back and bake for another 3-4 minutes to make it really crisp.
8) Once completely cooled, store in a air tight container
9) I had these crackers for 4 days in room temperature and  made a no bake chocolate cake
with the remaining graham crackers, so not able to tell you the shelf life of these crackers.
10) Do the same to the remaining dough, because of the coconut flour you had to keep
adding little milk as when rolling out the dough. Repeat procedure from 5-7.

Notes – I came across this recipe from a magazine in the local library,which had used 3 cups of
Whole wheat graham flour, because i had so much of all these other flours i combined all of them. This
is the first time i am making crackers with coconut flour, when using coconut flour
it just absorbs all the moisture and make it dry so i had to keep on adding milk to
roll out cut into desired shapes. Next time when i am making i am planning to add
finely ground almond meal. The original recipe uses honey, whereas i substituted it
with maple syrup.



Event Participation –
This goes to Whole Grain Baking – Brown Rice an event hosted by Madhuram
of Eggless Cooking.

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Ragi Chocolate Chip Muffin

Know What You Eat: Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine. Its Rich In Thiamin; Good Source of Fiber & Iron; A Sodium Free Food; Low Fat; Vegetarian. It's favoured as part of prescribed diet for diabetic. The flavor of ragi is not liked by everyone, I tried to combine wheat flour, oats flour, with ragi and chocolate chips to subside the typical flavor of ragi..The muffin came out really spongy and tastes good with chocolate in it. Enjoy the healthy baking.

Yields: 10-12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 C Wheat Flour OR (1/2 C wheat flour + 1/2 all purpose flour)
1 C Oat Flour
1/4 C Ragi(Finger Millet) Flour
1/2 C Semi Sweet Chocolate chip
1/4 C Dry Shredded Coconut + 1 Tbsp for topping
1/2 C Butter or 1/4 C butter + 1/4 C Canola oil / Cooking oil
1/4 - 1/2 C Milk ( add accordingly)
1/2 C Apple Sauce
3 tsp Unsweetened Chocolate Powder
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 C Brown Sugar (Increase acc. taste)
2 Tbsp Maple syrup







Method:
1. Preheat, and set oven to 350F.
2. Seive & mix all the dry ingredients; wheat-ragi-oat-chocolate chip-coconut. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients thoroughly and add this to the flour mixture. Add milk accordingly so the batter consistency slightly thicker than that of chocolate cake batter.
3. Line a muffin pan with baking cups and pour 3/4th of cup with the batter. Top it with some shredded coconut.
4. Bake for around 20-25 mins till a knife inserted comes out clean.

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Vegan Fat free Banana Oat Nut Bar & Banana-Beet Milk

Know what you Eat – Oats, via their high fiber content, are known to help remove cholesterol from
the digestive system that would otherwise end up in the bloodstream.Bananas are an exceptionally rich source of fructooligosaccharide, a compound called a prebiotic because it nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon. These beneficial bacteria produce vitamins and digestive enzymes that improve our ability to absorb nutrients Almonds which is high in monounsaturated fats, that is good for the body  and is associated with reduced risk of heart disease. In addition to healthy fats and vitamin E, Magnesium and Potassium. Jaggery (Panela) is a "natural" sweetener made
by the concentration of sugarcane juice WITHOUT the use of any chemicals / synthetic additives or
preservatives. It contains an enormous wealth of minerals / protein / vitamins and iron. Beets get their garnet color from antioxidants called betalains, which help your body detoxify potentially cancer causing substances.  Go for raw milk than pasteurized and homogenized milk, which causes higher incidence of milk  allergies or lactose intolerance, from organic grass fed cows without any growth hormone or antibiotic.


After school snack is the most important meal in our house, the dining table becomes the vent out place to discuss what all things happened in the school in the whole stressful?? day, so the table should look colorful and tempting as per the kids, at the same time should be nutritious according to me. It is not very difficult to achieve both with little bit of planning and creativity and this is one such snack, which they relish. Using beets instead of artificially flavored strawberry drinks, is much  more healthier.


Vegan Fat free Banana Oat Nut Bar

Preparation Time - 10 Minutes
Cooking Time - 20 Minutes
Serves - Makes around 12 bars

Ingredients

Old Fashioned Oats - 1 3/4 cup
Oats Flour - 1/4 cup
Banana – 2 big
Powdered Jaggery(Panela) - 1/2 cup
Chopped Almonds - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup
Chopped Dates - 1/4 cup
Toasted Chia seeds – 2 Tbsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt pinch
Water

Method

1) In a pan add little bit of water to the powdered Jaggery/Panela  just to cover the surface and heat
till the jaggery is fully dissolved. Filter it of any impurities and keep it aside.
2) Combine the Oats, Oat flour, flaked almonds, chopped dates, cinnamon powder and salt.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, In a blender puree the banana and add the
banana puree and the jaggery syrup.
to the Oats mixture and mix well and thoroughly.
4) Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and transfer the Oats mixture to the baking pan
and bake  till a knife inserted at the center comes out clean.
5) Take it out of the parchment paper and set it aside to cool.
6) Once cooled cut into bars of desired size and store in an airtight container.
7) Can be kept at room temperature for 2 days, refrigerates up to 2 weeks.

Notes – I make these bars quite often, I keep on changing the nuts and dry fruits with
sunflower, pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, figs, raisins, cashews, walnuts, dried cranberries etc
just not to get bored with the same taste.

 Banana & Beet Milk

Preparation Time – 5 Minutes
Cooking Time – 15 Minutes
Serves – 2

Ingredients

Beet - 1 Small sized
Banana - 1 Big
Raw milk - 12 oz(1 1/2 cups)
Raw Honey - 1 Tbsp  or to taste
Vanilla Extract - 2 drops
Ice cubes - few optional

 Method

1) Pressure cook the beet for 3 whistles and keep it aside.
2) Once the beet is cooled, peel it and chop it into small pieces.
3) In a blender add the beet pieces and little bit of milk and make a fine puree out of the beets.
4) To this beet puree, add banana slices and blend well.
5) To this add the milk, raw honey, vanilla extract, ice cubes and blend together and serve.

Event Participation

1) This  goes to Kids Delight Wholesome breakfast hosted by Srivalli.

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Sweet Sesame & Peanut Stuffed Paratha

Know What U Eat: Sesame seeds contain two unique substances: sesamin and sesamolin. Both of these substances belong to a group of special beneficial fibers called lignans, and have been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect in humans, and to prevent high blood pressure and increase vitamin E supplies in animals. Sesamin has also been found to protect the liver from oxidative damage. For now enjoy these sweet stuffed sesame paratha freshly made and served warm, good for little fussy eaters and a sweet treat for all the rest. It goes directly to Priya's CSW- Sesame.

Ingredients:

1/2 C Brown Roasted Sesame seeds

1/2 C Jaggery

1 Tbsp Roasted Peanuts, coarsely powdered

1 Tbsp Roasted split chana daal, coarsely powdered

1 Tbsp Dry Coconut, powdered/shredded

2 Tbsp Ghee/Clarified butter

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

2-3 tsp of water

Ingredients for Paratha/ Flat Bread dough:

1 C whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp gram flour

1 Tbsp warm canola/olive oil

water as required

Method:

1. Roast the sesame on a pan until light brown, keep them aside.

2. In the same pan roast split pea & peanuts, when cool, grind them in coffee grinder.

3. In the same pan roast the gram flour for about 2 mins. Keep aside.

4. Now add warm ghee to grated jaggery and mix all the above ingredients together to make a soft and mouldable mixture.

5. Grease your hands with oil/ghee and make small balls of stuffing and keep them aside.

For the flat bread dough:

1.  Mix flour, oil. Slowly add little water and make a firm dough. The dough should not be too soft but more on a firmer side.

2.  Divide the dough in small equal balls.

Roll in the stuffing:

1. Then roll out each ball into a not too thin disc or a chapati on a floured board. Like 3 " in diameter should be fine.

2.  Spread the above prepared jaggery & sesame mixture on one round chapati and cover with same size another round chapati. Seal the edges nicely, or else the jaggery will ooze out during cooking and will make the entire thing quite messy....sprinkle a little dry flour on top, then roll out the paratha as thinly and as round as you can, being careful not to break it.

3.  Grease a smoking tava or a griddle with ghee and place the paratha over it, keep a watch turnover when its little golden brown in color, apply ghee on the top and turn over.

4.  Press gently and spread some ghee over this side too.

5.  Keep turning untill parathas turn golden brown or done.

6.  Similarly make the rest of the sweet sesame parathas.  Serve this paratha warm.

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Multigrain Bread with no refined flour

Know what you Eat – Wheat, Oats all in its natural unrefined state, features a host of important
nutrients. Therefore, to receive benefit from the wholesomeness of the grain it is important to choose
products made from whole grain flour rather than those that are refined and stripped of their natural
goodness.  Ragi(Finger Millet) is a super food which contains nearly 15% protein, contains high amounts of fiber, B-complex vitamins including niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin, the essential amino acid methionine, lecithin, and some vitamin E. It is particularly high in the minerals iron,
magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium. Brown rice protein is very good source of protein can be
easily tolerated by people who are allergic to whey protein, soy protein etc, 1 scoop 20gm of brown
rice protein contains 12g of protein.

If you look for whole grain bread in the store most of them will have whole grain combined
with flour or bread flour and not 100% whole grain, unless specifically mentioned.
So when i came across this recipe which was  simple to make , i wanted to try it out. Instead of just
whole wheat, i added oat flour, finger millet flour and organic brown rice protein to fortify it.
I should say i got a thumbs up from my official taster(my elder one), meaning the recipe passed
the taste test and which is always a tough task.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 2 Cups
Oat Flour - 1 cup
Ragi(Finger Millet) Flour – 1/4 cup
Organic Brown rice protein powder – 1/4 cup
Instant yeast – 1 packet(2 1/2 teaspoons)
Water – 1 1/3 cups
Vegetable Oil – 1/4 cup
Non fat dried milk – 1/4 cup
Honey – 1/4 cup
Salt – 1 Teaspoon
Method
1) In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl.
2) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes,
or until it begins to become smooth and supple.
3) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise till puffy
for 60 minutes.
4)  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into an 8-inch log.
Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic
wrap.
5) Allow the bread to rise for about 1 hour, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.
A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly.
6) Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for about 30 minutes, the bread is baked
fully, when you thump the bottom it should sound hollow.
7) Cool it on a wire rack after baking and slice once cooled completely.
8) Enjoy with some peanut butter and honey for breakfast, lunch or snack.

About Brown Rice Protein
You can find organic brown rice protein in your health food store or online. I got mine from
mothernature.com, the brand name is Tribez nutrition. It is slight brown in color and a very fine powder
and tastes little like brown rice flour. You can add it to smoothie or add it to porridge and cook, add
it to your flour while baking. Infinite possibilities. There are so many brands out there but check for
the organic one’s and buy.

Event Participation

1) The bread goes to Baking with Whole Grains – Brown Rice hosted by Madhuram of egglesscooking.com.

2) Sending this to Kids Delight Wholesome breakfast hosted by Srivalli.

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